Quote:
Originally Posted by Isaac Zachary
Nobody. But everything I've researched suggests that lower and longer will get better fuel mileage than taller and shorter. There have been examples of station wagons with more interior space that have more power, cost less and get better fuel mileage than similarly specked crossovers.
Plus the longer and shorter roof is better for amateur radio antennas. One of my car antennas is 17.5 feet long and works best smack dab in the middle of the Prius's roof.  |
1) We have at least one empirical example where lowering had no effect on drag, so we can't make 'blanket' 'truths' about outcomes.
2) There is an historical precedent associated 'length' and low drag, however, again, we have empirical evidence for 'short, stubby, blunt' vehicles with lower drag than relatively-longer vehicles in in same market segment.
3) If vehicles are reduced to normalized 'bar-graph' components, using length divided by square-root of frontal area, and compared by drag coefficient, you find that the Schlorwagen, Renault Vesta-II, M-B Bionic Boxfish, and Aero-modded Audi A2 are of the lowest drag vehicles ever offered.
4) That said, these four examples will all demonstrate lower drag with elongation and attention to sectional density.